Destination: Home Newest Version
by AlyenaTheBandit
Summary: What would you do if you had no one? Cry? Fight? Lose your mind? Alyena Danford is finding out. Sunnydale isn't the best place to be alone, but where else is? At least at the Hellmouth you know what you're in for...
1. Bye Bye Boston

Title: Destination: Home

Author: AlyenaTheBandit a.k.a. Bandit

Feedback: Yes, please! All reviewers get a cookie!

Rating: Anywhere between PG-13 and R for now. Warnings if it gets any harsher.

Spoilers: Everything up through Grave. Starts off as alternate Season 7.

Disclaimer: I own a Alyena, a computer, and a stale cup fo coffee. Hurrah to the starving artist.

Summary: This is what could have been if some events didn't happen, some did, and some people had relatives we didn't know about. Main characters are W/T and an OC named Alyena. The story is written episode per episode and focuses mainly on Alyena. Bear with me kids, it's gonna get confusing.

Tagline: What would you do if you had no one? Cry? Fight? Lose your mind? Alyena Danford is finding out. Sunnydale isn't the best place to be alone, but where else is? At least at the Hellmouth you know what you're in for...

**Episode One:** Bye, Bye Boston

_Darkness. It was so dark and quiet. _

_She heard the motors running outside and her insides froze and hardened. Suddenly, the window was breaking and they were everywhere, destroying what was left of her life. She plunged her stake into heart after heart but they never stopped coming, never left. _

_The fire; she didn't remember starting it but it was everywhere, engulfing her. There was smoke and burning and vampires and she couldn't find Diego anywhere. She rushed towards the kitchen and **Him**: He was biting Diego. _

_She screamed something unintelligible and pressed her cross to His face, catching Diego as he was released. She kept her cross up as best as she could but the smog burned her eyes and her lungs and Diego was just so heavy. She went down and He was coming for her and her world went black…_

* * *

When Alyena woke up, she could smell pancakes downstairs. She got up off of the bed and all the way down the stairs without opening her eyes, a skill that took her mere days to develop.

Opening her eyes, Alyena saw Tara pouring batter into a pan on the stove while Willow poured four glasses of orange juice. She grunted, "Coffee," and headed for the brewing pot.

Once she had successfully downed two cups and was onto her third, she sat down at the island smiling contentedly.

Tara never looked up from her cooking, her face contorted in an adorable frown as she scraped burnt pancake remains out of her skillet.

She gave Willow a suspicious look followed by what was obviously a smirk and Alyena laughed into her orange juice, covering with a vicious coughing fit.

Tara smiled conspiratorially at Alyena and questioned, "Funny shapes or rounds?"

Alyena mumbled through the piece of toast she had shoved in her mouth to quell her laughing, "Mm...Igh dun curr..'ow bout..." She swallowed finishing, "Rounds?"

Willow, completely oblivous to the goings on, teased, "Why don't you try swallowing your food before you talk? It tends to make conversation less caveman and more, educated twenty-first century teenager."

Alyena replied indignantly, "I am perfectly capable of carrying on a caveman free conversation! I just choose not to because that gives people ideas and ideas lead to work and work leads down the dark road of badness."

Willow pointed out, "You have a job though! A job that entails work spawned from the ideas of a Capitalist ex-vengeance demon which, honestly if you think about it is a scary idea in and of itself. I mean, looking at the facts, the history we've learned about Anya--vengeance demons in general--I'm sensing a pattern here. We could research until we're blue in the face--and we still wouldn't have enough answers to prove that she's after anything other than personal monetary gain--but there are some extreme risks to working in the facility of..."

Just as Willow-babble was taking a sharp left and veering off the ramp into out of control, Tara turned off the burner on the stove and moved over to Willow.

Cupping the redhead's face in her hands, she forcefully kissed her, causing Willow to lose all focus and the ramble to end. It wasn't just your average morning kiss either; tongues dueled, teeth scraped, Willow was bent slightly over the sink as hands went to places Alyena would rather not think about.

Alyena ducked down, staring into her coffee mug as if it were the most fascinating thing she'd ever seen. She noticed she had chipped a little bit off of the handle washing it the night before and dug her bitten fingernail into it, scraping off little sharp edges.

After an excruciatingly long moment, the two pulled away, out of breath and heavy lidded and Tara returned to the stove, leaving a baffled and slightly disheveled redhead staring blankly forward.

An uncomfortable silence filled the kitchen as Willow stared lustily at Tara, Tara focused on her pancakes with a trademark half grin on her face and Alyena tried to look anywhere except directly at the two witches.

After a beat Alyena tried to spark up a conversation asking, "So where's Dawn? I figured she'd already be up by now, what with the whole 'I actually like school' mantra."

Willow pulled herself out of her reverie explaining, "Dawnie doesn't have school today, so she decided to celebrate by sleeping in. I tried to convince her to come to the computer store with me and she said no! I think she might be possessed."

Tara smirked again, reminding, "Wil she's not possessed, she's a teenager. I know it seems strange to you that anyone wouldn't be willing to wake up early on a Friday and hang out with you at a computer store, but it does actually happen Sweetie."

Willow sat down next to Alyena pouting, "It's not fair though! I thought I would get this fun bonding time with Dawnie and she thinks sleep is cooler than me! I really am insane!"

Alyena smirked, stabbing several pancakes onto her plate as Willow and Tara once again had the 'No, you're not insane' debate.

She poured some more coffee and settled in just as Tara sat down and fought back, "Honey, we've already had this discussion! You're not insane, you're just a little...quirky. You do the most adorable things that other people might find crazy or nerdy but we both know that they are just part of Willow."

Willow speared a pancake onto her plate before deflating, "Fine. I'm just Willow and I'm not _insane_. I still don't have anyone to go to the computer store with though."

Alyena looked up suggesting, "Why don't you ask your bestest bud Xander to go? He probably doesn't have anything better to do."

Tara glared at Alyena who quickly covered, "I-I mean he would probably appreciate going more than Dawn! What could be more fun than hanging with your best friend around all that technology?"

Tara nodded slightly at Alyena who visibly relaxed, exhaling slightly. They both waited with bated breath as Willow pondered this new development.

Finally after what seemed like an eternity, but was really only about ten seconds, Willow brightened up and cracked a huge grin.

Both Tara and Alyena internally gave sigh of relief as Willow agreed, "I bet Xander would love to come! We could hang out just like old times! I look at the latest updates for my laptop, he plays video games on the demonstration Playstation...and then maybe we could go to the Espresso Pump and get mochas!"

Alyena let Willow continue her babble of fun times with Xander, standing up and placing her dishes in the sink. She headed off towards the stairs exclaiming over her shoulder, "Gotta get to work before Anya beheads me! Catch ya later!"

* * *

Alyena looked up from her stock list at the sound of the bell that signaled the entrance of someone. She headed down from the loft, sweeping her long dark locks into a quick ponytail as she went. Tucking her pencil behind her ear, she greeted, "What can I do ya for?"

A sandy haired boy of about seventeen scanned the store before turning to face her and responded, "I'm just looking for a couple things my mother ordered. Do you think you could find them for me?"

Alyena looked into his eyes, almost dozing off in the sea of blue before shaking herself unnoticeably and speaking, "Do you have a list? I can probably just go look it all up."

The boy began searching through his pockets as he noted, "Yeah, she gave me a list if I can just find it. She said you might not carry one of the books, but that she'd never tried this place before and heard you were good."

He handed Alyena a piece of paper, folded in half and she commented, "We do have a better selection than anywhere else in town. We've got more hardcore stuff than some of the other shops because everyone seems to be getting into trinkets these days. Little mementos and love spells sell better than gizzard in most cases."

He laughed at her truthfulness and replied, "I think you'll be very helpful then. I'm Gavin Merimer by the way."

Alyena replied, "I'm Aly; Alyena that is. Alyena Danford." As she turned to go find his things he smiled curiously to himself whispering, "Alyena."

She returned a moment later with a jar of rat's eyes and a small satchel of sage informing, "I think I can find everything on your list, but raven feathers can be a little pricey because we've been low on them lately. Someone hasn't been catching enough ravens."

She smirked at her own joke, walking over to the counter and placing the supplies she had retrieved there. She called to him from the back of the store, "Is your mother trying anything in particular? You seem to be getting some strange supplies for just one spell."

Gavin nearly shouted back, "She's mostly just restocking. She has a trip coming up and she wants to have everything she'll need taken care of."

Alyena reappeared holding a couple raven feathers and a box containing various kinds of incense asking, "If you don't mind my asking, where is she going?"

Gavin took the supplies from Alyena so she could head up to the loft responding, "She's going up to England to meet a coven. She wants to work on magical control and calming techniques."

Alyena sifted through piles of books saying, "Oh yeah? My guardian went up to a coven in England for the same thing. If we're talking about the same coven, they're fantastic. I know your mom will have a wonderful time."

She came down the stairs with three books and tripped, nearly falling, but managing to land on her feet and catch all three books in one hand.

Gavin reached for her, taking the books under his arm exclaiming, "Wow! That was amazing! Are you part tiger or something?"

They both let out a short laugh and Alyena brushed her hair out of her face and smirked, "I am often referred to as the jaguar of the stock room."

Gavin placed the books on the counter remarking, "Hey, you found all three!"

Alyena exhaled, "Yeah, I think I can get everything on that list. Anything else you need while I go get the last few things?" before heading to the back of the store.

Gavin squirmed a bit and mumbled quietly, "Hemlock, black poplar, yew."

Alyena returned with a bit of jasmine, lavender, and mugwort asking, "Excuse me? I couldn't hear you."

She put the remainder of the supplies on the counter and waited patiently as he shifted in place for a moment before repeating, "I need hemlock, black poplar, and yew."

Alyena gave him a mildly suspicious look and looked in the back of the store for a moment before returning with all three in hand. She placed the black poplar and yew on the counter with the other supplies asking, "What do you need hemlock for?"

Gavin stuffed his hands in his pockets replying rather reluctantly, "I want to poison my best friend as a test. He hasn't been the same lately and I think he might be….well that's not really important. You wouldn't believe me anyway."

Alyena locked eyes with him stating evenly, "Try me. There's not much that surprises me these days."

Gavin looked up at the ceiling stating quickly, "I think he might be a vampire."

Alyena exhaled a sigh of relief saying, "Well, you're doing it wrong. There is a much easier test to see if he's a vampire. If you want a more subtle approach, take some holy water and pour it in a glass. It looks just like regular water so he won't be suspicious. All you have to do is spill it on him and see if it burns him."

Gavin seemed relieved as well and asked, "Do you know where I could find any holy water?"

Alyena replaced the hemlock in the storeroom and reached for a bottle of holy water on a high shelf. She tossed it to him saying, "This should do the trick. You might want to keep it hidden though; there are a lot of people in this place that will not want you to have that."

Gavin caught the bottle replying, "Thanks. How do you know so much about vampires anyway?"

Alyena smiled, "I could ask you the same question; only you don't seem to know much at all."

Gavin shuffled his feet, laughing at the response. He commented, "You're one strange girl, Aly!"

Alyena acted offended saying, "What is that supposed to mean?"

Gavin said in a soft voice, "I think you're probably the most commanding girl I've ever met, but you have a good sense of humor to counter it. You're very pretty, but you act and dress like you don't think you are. Also, you have the best laugh I've ever heard."

Alyena seemed taken aback by this and remained silent for a moment before looking up at the clock and remarking, "I should get you checked out so you can get home before sundown."

Gavin seemed puzzled by this stating, "I don't need to be home by sundown! I can stay as long as I want actually."

Alyena began ringing up his supplies enforcing, "You _do_ need to be home by sundown. Do you live here or not?"

He seemed even more frazzled by this response and she finally caved, "Oh, fine. How about I ring you up, then you help me close up the store before Anya can murder me. After that, I'll take you for coffee at the Espresso Pump as penance and walk you home so you're safe. I can get home after that just in time for Willow to yell at me for not doing my laundry this morning, and maybe squeeze in a responsive argument. Sound fair?"

Gavin smiled, "Sounds a lot better than what I had in mind."

Alyena smiled to herself as she bagged his items and set them on the counter. She told him the total and he pulled out a few folded bills from his wallet saying, "You really are very strange."

Alyena snatched the bills out of his hand and replied with a smirk, "Just for that, I'm making you carry three boxes of perhaps the smelliest product on the face of the earth, rather than just two!" Gavin smiled and they walked off to get things from the storeroom.

* * *

Gavin and Alyena were sipping coffee when Gavin asked, "You said something about a guardian earlier. What did you mean?"

Alyena looked up from her coffee and replied, "You mean Willow? Well, I live with my guardians Willow and Tara. They're sort of like my adoptive big sisters. Well, I didn't adopt them, they adopted me. So, legally they're called my guardians." Alyena paused snickering, "Willow really fits the title well with the way she nags me and protects me."

Gavin smiled, "If you're adopted, may I ask where your real family is?"

Alyena clutched her mug a little too tightly and it shattered in her hand, spraying coffee and ceramic across the table.

Gavin saw her response and backpedaled, "I'm sorry for asking. That's obviously a sore subject so you can just ignore it. Here let me help you with that." He began sweeping bits of ceramic into a pile and sopping up coffee with his napkin.

Alyena shook her head, cleaning up some of the mess while replying, "It's okay. You weren't trying to hurt me. I'll explain. I was born and raised in Boston, but my family moved here last year. About four months ago, they were murdered. My dad, my mom, my little brother; all of them. I got out with my life for who knows why and Willow and Tara took me in. They've been with me ever since and they adopted me about two months back so the state wouldn't take me away."

Gavin nodded somberly, "I'm so sorry about your family. I'm glad you have a new one though. I wouldn't want you to be in a foster home."

Alyena collected the debris saying, "I wouldn't want to be in one either."

Alyena looked up, changing the subject and asked, "What about you? Do you live with your whole family?"

Gavin sighed, "I live with my mom. My older sister is off at college in Europe somewhere and my dad lives in New York. My parents got divorced a few years back and I don't see him much anymore. That's alright though, just my mom and me. We're really close."

Alyena nodded, "I'm glad that you're so close! Are you just going to stay home when your mom goes on her trip or are you going somewhere?"

Gavin shrugged, "I guess I hadn't really thought about it. I would stay at my best friend Brandon's house, but you know I think he might be a vampire. It might not go over so well."

Alyena nodded, sipping some of Gavin's proffered coffee and pointed out, "We should get you home before it gets too late. Where do you live?"

Gavin stood up, responding, "I live over by the new high school. Is that too far from where you live?"

Alyena shook her head saying, "I don't live too far from there. I can get back before curfew if I run."

Gavin and Alyena began walking towards his house and he commented, "You're a runner? Athletic girl…hmm."

Alyena smiled, "Something like that. I like to get exercise, so sometimes I run in the mornings or late at night if I can't sleep."

Gavin asked, "Where do you go to school? I don't think I've ever seen you at Sunnydale High before."

Alyena replied, "I don't go to school actually. I graduated early because I took some extra classes so, no senior year for me. I might enroll in UC Sunnydale for the fall though."

Gavin put one hand in his pocket and exclaimed, "Wow. I feel a little intimidated now! I'm just your B+ average senior over here."

Alyena laughed, "Don't be. I'm not some smarty-pants genius, believe me. I just had a lot on my plate, so I re-worked my classes so I could get it all done. I happened to graduate early which just kind of added to the mix."

She exclaimed, "You want to meet a real genius? You should see Willow, or my best friend from Boston, Savvie! Willow graduated Valedictorian of her class with a full scholarship to every college in the world while Savvie is the first sixteen year old to ever be accepted to Harvard."

Gavin whistled, "Whoa…now I feel less intimidated by you, but more illiterate all around!"

Alyena smiled, bumping into him with her shoulder and stuck her hands in the back pockets of her jeans commenting, "It's a beautiful night, don't you think? I love fall. It reminds me of the times I used to go to the country in Massachusetts. It's beautiful there."

Gavin responded, "I bet so! I love California, but I think it'd be amazing to live in the northeast just for the falls and winters."

Alyena looked up at the stars sighing lightly in response. Gavin spoke, "Alyena, I want to ask you something."

Alyena looked at him responding, "Sure, what's on your mind?"

Gavin was about to speak when Alyena exclaimed, "Hold that thought!" and threw him out of the way.

A vampire ran towards her, tackling her to the ground on the sidewalk as Gavin looked on, stunned. Alyena kicked the vampire off, flipping herself upwards and gave him a nice punch to the face. He returned the sentiment with a powerful left hook that bruised her jaw considerably.

She threw her head down, her hand flying to her face and cursed, "Where's a damn Slayer when you need one?"

The vamp tried to punch her again, but she caught the punch and twisted his arm behind his back, using it force him to his knees. He flipped upwards, almost kicking her in the face but landed behind her instead. She used her head to butt him from behind and grabbed his arm, flipping him over her shoulder. He reached out and clawed her face, leaving a nice cut through her left eyebrow and fell flat on his back on the ground.

Alyena saw Gavin trying to get up to help her in her peripheral vision and grunted, "Gavin, don't! I got this."

She wrestled the vampire to the ground, pulling a stake from her jacket and slamming it into his chest with both hands. She sank to the ground on top of the dusted vamp and blew her hair out of her face.

Gavin rushed over and helped her up shouting, "What just happened? Are you alright?"

He helped her to her feet and she responded as she ran her fingers through her hair, "It's okay. That was just a vampire out for the kill. I'm no Slayer, but I can kick him around a bit. Luckily, he didn't put up too much of a fight or I would've been vamp-meat. I'm not at the top of my game right now, but this is basically my life."

Gavin seemed shocked by this and sputtered, "You fight vampires?"

Alyena shrugged as they started walking again responding, "Not really. Normally, I just leave that up to the Vampire Slayer, but considering she's out of town, I'm helping out a bit lately. However, the supernaturally undead does happen to be one of my specialties."

Gavin shook his head saying, "Wow, you really are some kind of girl."

Alyena looked up at the high school ahead of them and asked, "Where is your house?"

Gavin pointed to a quaint house about a block down and Alyena nodded. Once they arrived at the door, Alyena checked his bag to make sure all his supplies were still there.

She noted, "The incense is a little crushed, but it should be alright. Sorry about everything."

Gavin shook his head saying, "This is the most fun I've had in a long time. I'd really like to see you again. About what I was going to ask you earlier….could I have your phone number? Then maybe I could call you sometime and we could see each other."

Alyena took a pen from her pocket and scribbled the number on the side of the paper bag saying, "Give me a call sometime."

Alyena pulled away speaking, "It's time for me to go home. It's getting late and dark outside."

Gavin nodded moving away before responding lamely, "Yeah, I suppose you should get home before anyone else ambushes you. Are you sure you're okay?"

Alyena replied, "What are a couple bumps and bruises? I'll be alright. Goodnight, Gavin."

Gavin opened his front door as he watched her walk away whispering, "Goodnight, Aly."

* * *

Alyena managed to get home without any trouble, and opened the kitchen door of the Summers' home.

She sat down at the island, putting a hand to her bruised jaw in exhaustion. She tested the area to see how bad it was and reached upwards, feeling blood pooling around the cut through her eyebrow.

Willow called to her from the living room, "You're late, _again_. I know you had to close up, but you had enough time to…" She paused at the sight of Alyena and pressed, "What happened to you? Aly, are you alright?"

Willow rushed over to her and pulled down a med kit from one of the cabinets as Alyena responded, "Don't worry; it's just a few scratches. I got attacked by a vamp on my way home and he reminded me that I'm seriously out of shape, but I managed to send him to Dustville. Nobody got hurt."

Willow was rushing around trying to find something to clean Alyena's wounds with when Tara entered the room.

Upon surveying the scene, she decided to calm Willow down and find out what happened. Tara reached for a dish rag and opened the med kit, pouring some of the alcohol on it before dabbing at Alyena's eyebrow.

She asked calmly, "What did this?"

Alyena replied equally as calmly, "A now very dusty vampire."

Tara nodded and Willow nearly exploded. "That's it? You just let her say that and continue with your evening activities?"

Tara turned to Willow and spoke firmly, "She took care of it, Wil. It's terrible that she even has to, but she's done all she can and it's over. There's nothing we can do about it now except take care of her and put her to bed."

Willow calmed down a little apologizing, "I'm sorry, Tara. I just hate seeing her like this. If Buffy was here this would've never happened! I knew it was a bad idea for her to leave."

Tara soothed, "She'll be back as soon as she can. She hasn't been gone that long and she only has to stay for a year. That's only four more months, Wil. You know she'll come back as soon as Mr. Giles and Wesley will let her."

Willow sank onto a stool next to Tara and said quietly, "She's been gone a long time, Tare. I just want her back."

Tara shushed, "I know, Sweetie. Why don't you go check on Dawn? She's been upstairs for awhile and I suspect she's been talking to James." Tara grinned as Willow seemed almost angry in her mother bear protectiveness before giving Tara a small smile and heading off.

Alyena asked Tara while she disinfected her eyebrow, "What's Willow so worried about? When I lived in Boston we barely ever had a Slayer and we got by alright. As far as I know, Cleveland hasn't imploded yet. Buffy just needs to be in L.A. for a bit, but she'll be back right?"

Tara sighed, "Willow is just worried. Buffy is her best friend and Sunnydale just doesn't seem the same without her here. I think it's also because Buffy ran off a couple years back and the vampire percentage went up considerably. Nobody was sure if she'd ever come back."

Tara pulled out a small butterfly bandage and began placing it over Alyena's eyebrow before continuing, "Willow still gets scared some times. When Buffy died everything was really crazy for awhile. I actually remember that one. A bunch of demons and vampires tried to destroy the town because Buffy was gone."

Alyena nodded after Tara finished applying the bandage and responded, "I mean it's not that bad. The baddies don't know she's gone as far as I can tell and I've been taking out a few here and there. If I was in better shape I might even be able to patrol a little. Dawn and Xand and I could really give 'em a run for their money."

Tara smiled and put a little ice on Alyena's bruise saying, "I think right now you should focus on not getting hurt. You seem to have a problem with that."

Alyena nodded, standing up and heading out, "I'll go up to bed and rest."

She paused a moment adding, "I'm sorry, Tara. Tell Willow I'm sorry too. I just…I had someone with me and if that vampire had gotten him I wouldn't be able to live with myself. I've had enough casualties at the hands of vampires for one lifetime."

Tara understood, replying, "It's okay, Sweetie. I'll talk to Willow. Everything will turn out just fine!"

Alyena gave her a small half grin exhaling, "You're the best, Tare!"

Tara questioned, "If I want to come in later and talk…?"

Alyena finished, "I'll leave my door unlocked!" as she headed for the stairs.

Tara shook her head, smiling to herself as the girl left her eyesight.

* * *

The verdict? Good, bad, ugly? Please give me some feedback, I'd love to hear what you have to say! This is my first story so hopefully I'm doing okay.

-Bandit


	2. The Spaces Between Us

* * *

Title: Destination: Home

Author: AlyenaTheBandit a.k.a. Bandit

Feedback: Yes, please! All reviewers get a cookie!

Rating: Anywhere between PG-13 and R for now. Warnings if it gets any harsher. Higher rating for use of the words "dickwad" and "shit" and various other slang terms.

Spoilers: Everything up through Grave. Starts off as alternate Season 7.

Disclaimer: I own a Alyena, a computer, and a stale cup of coffee. Hurrah to the starving artist.

Summary: This is what could have been if some events didn't happen, some did, and some people had relatives we didn't know about. Main characters are W/T and an OC named Alyena. The story is written episode per episode and focuses mainly on Alyena. Bear with me kids, it's gonna get confusing.

Tagline: What would you do if you had no one? Cry? Fight? Lose your mind? Alyena Danford is finding out. Sunnydale isn't the best place to be alone, but where else is? At least at the Hellmouth you know what you're in for...

**Episode Two:** The Spaces Between Us

Alyena pushed open the door to Buffy's bedroom, currently her place of rest. She exhaled heavily as she kicked off her boots, pulling off her apron and tossing it over the back of a chair.

Walking over to Buffy's closet, she pulled open one of the doors to gaze at her appearance in the full length mirror. Her jaw was turning a shade of soft purple, a compliment to the butterfly holding together her sliced brow and the bandage wrapped around her broken hand, an injury accrued a few days prior.

She cursed softly at the further damage her broken hand had endured during the fight, blaming her desire to walk that new guy home for the damage to her already accident prone body.

_I've been back to work for what, three days and I already have more wounds? Get a hold of yourself, Al! Everything's gonna get a hell of a lot worse…_

"Typical…" she huffed as she shoved the door closed. She unbuttoned her plaid shirt, tossing it on the ground near a pile of similar shirts and headed over to her window. Bending down, she reached for a white tank top and pulled it over her head, straightening back up to look out her window.

It was a cool night, slightly breezy but not enough to bother. Alyena strode back over to a chair and snatched her ratty leather jacket, sliding carefully into it. Slipping her boots back on her feet, she headed back to the window and climbed out onto the roof.

The cool night air brushed against her cheeks, sending her dark tresses curling around her face and she smiled, allowing a small comfort. She stifled the smile a split second later, reprimanding herself for such petty thoughts.

As much as it pained her to admit it, she was very fond about her hair.

It had taken her years to come to terms with this unfortunate fact, the only shallow thing she would allow herself to indulge in, but she adored her thick, dark brown wavy locks.

Being that it was a trademark of her Irish heritage, she always kept her mane well groomed and clean; small spiraling waves bouncing around her face could be pulled into a sleek ponytail where the small curls once again let themselves be seen.

She would hardly admit it herself, never daring to speak it out loud or in front of anyone who could hear her, but her one indulgence gave her some peace of mind. It was almost as if the one thing she could control and make do as she pleased kept her sane and well balanced in her strange contortion of a life.

Shaking off all thoughts of her hair and her heritage and her misconstrued notion of life, she turned her attention back to the stars above her. If she could only jump into the stars and pretend that her life had never happened and He hadn't…

* * *

Willow awoke with a start, her breath coming in great gasps as her pajamas stuck to her like skin. She took several deep cleansing gulps of oxygen and pushed sweat soaked red locks from her forehead.

It had only been a second, a moment where she was just so tired she had to rest her impossibly heavy eyelids but it was enough.

The nightmares were back.

She reached over the covers for the blonde she knew would be on the other side and found her, pulling her close.

Tara shook awake at Willow's frantic movements questioning, "Willow?" As her eyes blinked open she pulled the fretting redhead into her arms, shushing her gently.

Willow cried into Tara's neck, wrapping strands of blonde hair around her fingers, "I lost you again! I can't lose you, Tare, I can't do that again!"

Tara peppered kisses all over Willow's head and face reassuring, "I'm right here, baby. Shh, it's alright! I'm not going anywhere, darling. You don't have to worry anymore."

Willow brushed away some of her tears, hiccupping, "Goddess, every time I close my eyes I see it…the bullet…Warren…I can't believe I did those things…"

Tara pressed her lips tenderly to Willow's forehead explaining softly, "Honey, it's okay. I saw everything and I'm still here. It's in the past now and you and I will get through everything together."

Willow calmed down a little, absently fingering the miniscule tear-dropped shaped diamond hanging from a delicate gold chain around her neck. She breathed into Tara's ear, "Will you always forgive me for what I've done? What if I did something so incredibly awful that even Miss Kitty wouldn't look at me anymore?"

Tara settled Willow against her body, draping one leg over the redhead and wrapping her tightly in her arms responding, "I would love you even if you ended the world because I know you'll always come back to me. We always find each other, Willow. You're never alone."

She leaned back against the pillows piled against the headboard and exhaled sleepily, "Besides, I think you've had enough world ending for one lifetime sweetheart." As an afterthought she added, "Do you want me to rub your belly, baby? I know it makes you feel better."

Willow swallowed down the bile she tasted from guilt and nodded childishly, stretching out so Tara could draw lazy circles on her stomach.

As she felt Tara's breathing slow and the circles began to stop, she let her mind guilt her into staying awake. She whispered just barely loud enough for her own ears to pick up, "Would you love me if you knew what I did to bring you back to me?"

* * *

Alyena flipped over in bed for the millionth time that night and looked at the digital display of the clock on her bedside table. The garish, blinking red numbers angrily declared it was 4:36 in the morning.

She rolled over onto her back heaving a great sigh of exhaustion and annoyance. Shoving off her sheets she sat up, letting her legs hang over the side of the bed as she ran a hand through her hair.

Across the hall she could very vaguely make out the sound of someone trying and failing to quietly get dressed. She stood up, pulling off her tank top and let it fall to the floor next to her shoes. It took her a moment to locate a respectable t-shirt, deciding her Ramones one would be her best bet, and she pulled off her flannel pants.

She slid into the same pair of torn up jeans she had worn the day before, deftly locating a pair of socks in the process and laced herself into a pair of nearly worn out Chuck Taylor's. Her muscles ached from lack of sleep but her mind reminded her it wasn't as bad as it used to be.

She walked over to the vanity where most of Buffy's stuff was cluttered so she wouldn't break it or lose it and looked over her appearance. It would do, but she whispered a small incantation she had learned to erase the lines and dark circles from her sleeplessness so Willow wouldn't notice and Tara wouldn't ask.

Heading out, she grabbed her jacket and a black paisley fedora, settling it on her head tipped a little to the right. Shuffling towards the stairs she ran into Willow, also dressed for the day.

The two women surveyed each other, both wondering what the other was doing and looking incredibly guilty that they got caught. The situation was strange to both women who were used to being especially stealthy.

Awkwardly, Alyena asked, "What're you doing up at, um, you know, 4:45 in the morning?"

Willow gave Alyena an equally awkward stare and stumbled over her words. "I, um, well, you know…c-couldn't sleep."

After another uncomfortable pause, Willow seemed to get her wits about her questioning, "Wait, what are you doing up this early? You, queen of the sleeping in, are up at an ungodly hour."

Alyena's mind began running in frantic circles, looking for a way out of the situation before remembering Willow's own answer and cautiously responding, "Couldn't, um, sleep either? Ya know how it is, what with the caffeine addiction and the sleeping in all the time…not good for the, uh, the teenage health. Right?"

Willow and Alyena exchanged a quick look before both heading down the stairs as fast as they could while still being quiet.

Alyena got to the kitchen first, snatching her favorite mug and quickly filling it with a large amount of black coffee. Willow, witnessing this, commented, "I thought we decided coffee was bad for the teenage health?"

Alyena pointed to her head after a large gulp of the scalding liquid explaining, "It's the caffeine addiction, remember? But hey, it's better than drugs right?"

Willow sat down at the island pointing out to the girl, "Aly, caffeine is a drug. Did you pay attention at all in science class in high school?"

Alyena poured another cup arguing, "Well yeah, but it's like a little drug. It's not like one of the mack-daddy drugs that are all 'I'mma get all up in yah central nervous system, yo' and then you get schizoid and they lock you up in the crazy house."

Willow stared incredulously at Alyena for a moment before reiterating, 'Mack-daddy' drugs? 'Get all up in yah central nervous system?' Where did you learn this stuff!?"

Alyena downed a third cup and pulled on her jacket responding, "Hey, I'm a Southie, cut me some slack! They showed us all this after school special stuff and the language just kinda…stuck. Trying to be all 'teenage friendly' or whatever."

She looked up at the clock commenting, "Look, I gotta split. Going for a run before Tara wakes up and I have to get ready for work. Coffee's still hot if you want some and I made it a little less strong this time so you don't have to put so much sugar in." She waved over her shoulder as she headed out the kitchen door, letting it close softly behind her.

Willow looked up at the ceiling and muttered, "Goddess of public education or Abraham Lincoln or who ever is listening, please don't ever let me hear her say anything like that ever again!"

Standing up, she walked over to the counter and sniffed the air around the coffee pot experimentally. Pulling a mug out of the cupboard, she poured herself some and added her usual amount of cream and sugar before sitting back down at the island.

After several moments of an intense staring contest with the mug, she huffed quietly, "Fine, you win! I don't usually fold so easy." She lifted the mug to her mouth, licked her slightly chapped lips, and tasted Alyena's coffee.

She was fully prepared to cringe at the unnaturally strong taste she usually got when the teenager made the first morning pot but, surprisingly, she enjoyed it.

She spoke to the mug once again, "You really had me there! You've gotten sneakier now, eh? I'll get you one of these days."

Contentedly sipping her beverage she admitted aloud, "I am a hypocrite. It's addictive! It's bad for your health! Man, that girl makes good coffee though…"

* * *

Gavin knew he heard something as he walked up to the Magic Box but dismissed it as his mind playing tricks on him. It sounded faintly like a sing-along to some old tune from the sixties or seventies but…no that was impossible. Wasn't it?

He pushed open the door, barely hearing the bell jingle over the blasting music throughout the store. He looked around, not seeing anyone until Alyena came sliding, yes literally sliding across the floor from the back.

She held a broom like a microphone and was belting at the top of her lungs.

**Rescue me ****  
****Oh take me in your arms! ****  
****Rescue me ****  
****I want your tender charms! ****  
****'Cause I'm lonely and I'm blue ****  
****I need you and your love too ****Come on and rescue me ****  
****Come on baby and rescue me! ****  
****Come on baby and rescue me! ****  
****'Cause I need you by my side ****  
****Can't you see that I'm lonely? ****  
****Rescue me!**

He would've burst out laughing if the whole thing weren't so incredibly bizarre. _The girl I met was mellow and sarcastic and athletic and wow, her voice is incredible! I would've never guessed she could sing like that!_

Still completely baffled he barely noticed the small blonde woman who came flying into the room and continued the song until she was nearly on top of him dancing around the room.

**Come on and take my heart ****  
****Take your love and conquer every part! ****  
****'Cause I'm lonely and I'm blue ****  
****I need you and your love too! ****Come on and rescue me ****  
****Come on baby and rescue me! ****  
****Come on baby and rescue me! ****  
****'Cause I need you by my side ****  
****Can't you see that I'm lonely?**

Alyena was sweeping and dancing her way around the inside of the Magic Box, Anya dutifully belting out the lyrics to the song while dancing on the table in the corner of the room by the ladder to the loft.

Jokingly, Alyena pulled some ones out of the cash register and began tossing them at Anya who only seemed encouraged to dance on by the sight of money being tossed at her.

After the song ended, Alyena left Anya to pick up the money and return it to the register, moving over to Gavin and exhaling, "Hey! How's it hangin'?"

He stood open mouthed for a moment before laughing, "That was not exactly what I expected when I showed up here today! I thought maybe you'd be reading or taking stock like last time….that was a change."

She shrugged, sweeping around his feet, "You just gotta let loose sometimes or you get angry and bitter. I don't usually do that around you know, people though. I try to keep the musical outbursts to a minimum."

He pointed to Anya who was counting her money loudly across the room and asked, "Who exactly is that? She's kind of…eccentric."

Alyena looked over at the blonde ex-vengeance demon and shrugged, "Oh, that's just my boss, Anya. She's pretty cool. She lets me work whenever I want as long as I bring in a certain range of cash flow every time I come. She kind of has this thing for money, it makes her feel calm I think. 'To each their own', I guess."

Gavin looked over at Anya responding, "I guess." He looked back at Alyena asking, "Oh, when do you get off tonight? I have something in mind."

Alyena responded, smirking, "I get off at five. Whatcha gettin' at stud? You want to do something?"

Gavin smiled mischievously, "You'll just have to come with me and find out!"

Alyena nodded, "No problem. I'll let Anya know what's goin' on and we can motorvate here in a bit. Where are we going?"

Gavin took the broom from Alyena's hand and continued sweeping laughing, "You don't really get the concept of surprises do you?"

Alyena snatched the broom back with a slightly annoyed look on her face and grunted, "Don't do that."

He raised his hands in surrender adding, "Not chivalry either then! Are you okay?"

She looked up at him, her dark brown orbs giving nothing away before relenting, "Sorry. I just don't like it when people treat me like I can't do anything on my own. I can take care of myself."

He put a hand on her shoulder responding gently, "I didn't mean to upset you. Sometimes I can just be an idiot like that. Are we okay?"

She absently shrugged off his hand sighing, "Yeah, we're good. It's just been a long night. Didn't get much sleep, ya know?"

He nodded in understanding asking, "You want to get going? I want to make sure we get there in time."

She yelled over to Anya, "Yo, Ahn? I'm gonna head out. I made my quota for the day. We cool?"

Anya nodded, "I am very pleased with your money reaping skills! Please leave now and have many orgasms with your new hard-bodied male friend."

Gavin stared, aghast as Alyena chuckled, "Whatever you say, boss! Have a good night yourself."

Just as they were exiting the store, they heard a large explosion followed by the sound of various car alarms and the sprinkler system of the store next door. Alyena flew out the front door, flinging the bell off its hinges, Gavin and Anya on her heels just as another large rumble shook the Magic Box.

Outside, debris was raining down in fiery chunks as people scattered away from the raging blaze that engulfed what used to be the Paperback Express, a cute little shop specializing in old paperback copies of eclectic books.

Needless to say, the paperback books were not aiding in any attempt to put out the fire, which could now only be sufficiently described as an inferno.

Alyena ducked and dodged flying wisps of burnt or burning paper and chunks of wood as she made her way towards the shop to see what was going on. Anya and Gavin stayed back, trying to heckle answers out of passersby rather unsuccessfully.

As Alyena reached the source of the calamity, she spotted a familiar redhead. Rushing up to Willow she barked, "Wil, what's goin' on? I heard the explosion!"

Willow's face was streaked with tears and ashes, a blanket wrapped around her shoulders to cover up her singed clothes in the chilly autumn wind. She barely managed to choke out, "T-the….expl-l-losion…Tara!!"

Alyena gripped Willow's arms and asked as calmly as she could, "Willow, is Tara in the fire?"

Fresh tears poured from bloodshot green eyes as Willow gave an almost imperceptible nod and began totally sobbing. Anya and Gavin rushed over as Alyena was about to take off and began pestering her with questions.

"Where's the source of the explosion?"

"Is anyone hurt?"

"Is there anything we can do?"

"Who's going to save all the money? Will this hurt my income revenue?"

Alyena shouted, "Shut up! Just everybody shut up! I need to think."

Both of them instantly stopped talking and waited with bated breath as the seventeen year old paced.

After a split second decision she declared, "I'm not leaving Tara to these dickwad officers that don't know shit about anything. I'm gonna go get her."

Just as Gavin and Anya were about to protest, Alyena was gone, trudging her way through fire and flames towards her blonde guardian.

Willow managed between sobs, "What…what about…your…fear…of fire?"

Gavin and Anya gave each other confused, worried looks and both moved to comfort Willow, knowing nothing else to do.

--

I know this is kind of emotional ADD but hopefully it makes sense. Please R/R!!

Mary, you are awesome and deserve cookies. Lots of cookies.


	3. Cousins

Title: Destination: Home

Author: AlyenaTheBandit a.k.a. Bandit

Feedback: Yes, please! All reviewers get a cookie!

Rating: Anywhere between PG-13 and R for now. Warnings if it gets any harsher.

Spoilers: Everything up through Grave. Starts off as alternate Season 7.

Disclaimer: I own a Alyena, a computer, and a stale cup fo coffee. Hurrah to the starving artist.

Summary: This is what could have been if some events didn't happen, some did, and some people had relatives we didn't know about. Main characters are W/T and an OC named Alyena. The story is written episode per episode and focuses mainly on Alyena but W/T are not at all overlooked. Bear with me kids, it's gonna get confusing.

Tagline: What would you do if you had no one? Cry? Fight? Lose your mind? Alyena Danford is finding out. Sunnydale isn't the best place to be alone, but where else is? At least at the Hellmouth you know what you're in for...

**Episode Three:** Cousins

_Dark. _

_Dark and quiet. That eerie kind of quiet that freaks you out in the head. _

_It hurts. It's hot and smoky and I can feel the soles of my boots liquefying. Stupid ass cheap boots. _

_That's just a shadow. Shadows aren't real. He's not here. He's not… _

_What was that? _

_I saw something. It was there. No, just one of those firemen. No big, I'm safe. _

_Well that's kind of ironic, eh? I'm in a burning building looking for someone that I possibly can't save trying not to have a psychological breakdown. _

_Safe? Not really. _

_What's with all the tech talk anyway? Starting to sound like Willow. Damn. _

_Come on, Al. Just find her and get out. This is different: different place, different fire, different people, absolutely no one that can kill you here. _

_Except me. I could kill myself. I tend to get myself in situations that could get me killed regularly. _

_What can I say? It's a thing. _

_Tara…where is she? I think I see her. Over there? _

_It is her! Wait. I think? It looks like...it's not Mom. It isn't. She's gone now and…Diego? _

_Yego, where are you? Where am I? Why is it so hot here? __He's coming. He can see me now; smell me. I didn't hide well enough. I knew He'd find me. _

_Diego tried to warn me. He tried so hard to tell me it was all going to be okay. It's not okay. It's not… _

_Wait. Willow? That sounds familiar. I should know that name. Why are they yelling my name like that…?_

* * *

After Alyena had gone into the fire, Willow had finally calmed to a sort of catatonic state where nothing seemed to register with her except that Tara was in danger.

Gavin exclaimed in a hushed voice to Anya, "What does she think she's doing!? She's a seventeen year old girl, not Superman! She's going to get them both killed if she's not careful!"

Anya responded in a louder voice, "Oh, don't worry! She's like some super-strong-wonder-girl type person. She likes being a hero. Sometimes Xander and I play games where I get to be Wonder Woman and I tell him why he's been a naughty…"

Gavin gagged, "Please, please do not finish that sentence!" He smiled weakly at her before continuing, "We just have other stuff to worry about right now, you know?"

Anya nodded at him as if he were a one year old just learning to speak and he spoke up again, "What do we do if she can't find Tara? I mean, I get that she's not exactly….average, but she's still just a kid! I couldn't even do that!"

Willow interjected softly looking straight forward into the flames, "She'll find her. Aly never lets me down. She just may not be Aly anymore when she comes back."

Gavin and Anya both gave her a questioning look and Gavin asked as gently as he could, "Willow, what happened to her? Is this how her parents died?"

Willow pulled the blanket tighter around her shoulders and made a sound in the back of her throat that sounded like a choked sob.

It took her a moment to compose herself before she said detachedly, "It was like something out of one of those monster movies. It was horrible, every second I saw. I just wanted to hold her in my arms forever and make all the pain go away."

Gavin looked at her with patient eyes, gently prodding, "Can you tell me what happened?"

* * *

_What's going on out there? _

_Oh my goddess…those kids! What happened to them? _

_That girl has so much blood on her! Is she bleeding or is it the little boy she's carrying? _

_We have to get them inside! I need to get Xander out here! _

_The blood…that boy has bite marks on his neck…it's all his. So much. _

_It think I'm gonna be sick…everything's red. _

_Will I ever stop seeing red?_

* * *

Willow's ears perked up at the sound of voice she knew better than her own. She jumped up, rushing towards the sound shouting, "Tara! Tara, where are you baby?"

Gavin and Anya followed as Willow roughly parted the crowd to get to her blonde lover. Reaching out, she grasped a soot stained hand and crashed into the gurney her girlfriend was resting on.

Willow peppered Tara's hand with kisses crying, "Oh goddess, Tara! Are you okay? I can't believe I didn't go into that store with you! We should've just kept on going to the Magic Box and none of this would've ever happened! I'm so, so sorry baby!"

Tara pulled Willow's hand to heart replying, "It's okay, Sweetie. I'm here! See, just a little banged up. Nothing some bandages and chicken soup can't fix."

Willow brushed locks of slightly crispy blonde hair away from Tara's face lovingly before asking, "Baby who got you out of the fire? Where's Aly? Is she okay?"

Tara coughed hard, heaving as much black smoke out of her lungs as possible before responding quietly, "I don't know where Aly is, Wil. I haven't seen her all day; you know she went to work early this morning. Is she with Anya at the Magic Box?"

Willow looked horrified pestering, "Then who pulled you out of the fire?"

Tara choked out between coughs, "I don't know. It was a strong woman with dark hair wearing a black tank top. That's all I saw before the boards starting falling from the ceiling and the smoke was too strong to see through. It sort of looked like Aly but it wasn't her, she was too short to be Aly."

Willow gave Tara a despairing look explaining, "Aly went after you into the fire! I thought she was the one who pulled you out. If she didn't save you, that means she's still in there! What are we going to do?"

* * *

_I can't think…Goddess it's so hot… _

_I can't feel my fingers…I keep trying to touch them and I can't feel it. _

_Who is that? She looks familiar… Her aura is dark and painful… _

_She's picking me up…wow, she's really strong. _

_The beams from the ceiling…they're falling! Oh goddess… _

_Someone is over there. _

_They're… _

_Trapped._

* * *

Tara relayed, "I saw someone in the fire. One of the ceiling beams fell down and I think it trapped them. It might've been Aly. I couldn't tell! It was too dusty…"

Willow looked down at Tara with pure fear in her eyes and registered that Tara had just fallen unconscious. She flagged down a young EMT and barked orders at him for a good five minutes before Tara was loaded into an ambulance and they were ready to head to the hospital.

The young EMT asked, "Ma'am, are you coming with us? We need to leave now to make sure we get her there safely."

Willow nodded at him before turning back to Anya and Gavin ordering, "Stay with the ambulances until everyone is out of the fire. We have to find her. We WILL find her."

Gavin grimaced, "We'll stay Willow. I won't leave until I find her. Go."

Willow jumped into the ambulance just as the doors were closing and the sirens flipped on. The truck sped away towards Sunnydale Memorial as the remaining firemen and emergency techs tried to get people out of or away from the fire.

Anya asked Gavin, "Are we just going to stay here all night? What if they never find her?" She rubbed her hands together, slightly chilly in the autumn air even though the fire still blazed.

Gavin responded, "I'll stay here as long as it takes. I know she would do the same for me." He turned to Anya continuing, "Too much has happened to her for me to abandon her now."

Anya asked for the first time, "Hey, strangely handsome man, what's your name?" She shuffled a little in place to keep herself warm as the fire began dying down a little.

Gavin responded, eyes fixated on the dancing flames, "I'm Gavin. Gavin Merimer."

* * *

_Son of a bitch… _

_Note to self: upon seeing a falling ceiling beam, run. Upon seeing a falling ceiling beam on fire, run faster. _

_It feels like someone peeled all the skin off my arm and stapled it to my forehead. _

_Well that was a really gross analogy. Way to go Al. _

_What? Honestly, my arm is in an agonizing amount of pain and my head is throbbing! That's the only logical explanation. _

_I'm having a conversation with myself inside my head. Not a good sign. _

_I should probably try to open my eyes now. I hear shouting and that's never a good sign. _

_Eyes? Will you open for me? Eyes? Come on… _

_Shit. I'm blind. I hit my head and I'm totally blind. I'll never see again. _

_And I didn't even get to see Gavin with his shirt off yet! _

_God damn…I hate my life. _

_Wait. Eyes! Light! Burning, excruciatingly painful bright light! _

_Ahh! I think I liked it better when I was blind…_

* * *

Alyena's eyes blinked open, bright fluorescent light flooding her senses. She grimaced in pain, blocking out the light with a sore hand.

Once she regained her sight, she looked at her right arm which was steadily throbbing and saw that it was covered in thick, gauzy white bandages up to the elbow. The bandages were secured around her palm, wrapped neatly across its surface.

She examined her other arm, which was peppered with small spots of gauze but seemed intact, and moved on to what else she could see of herself. She felt her way up her neck and face finding only small sore spots until she got to her forehead.

There was a piece of bandage secured carefully to her left temple just under her hairline that left a trace of redness on her fingertips when she touched it. It appeared to still be bleeding so she made a mental note to change the bandage soon.

She tried sitting up and groaned in pain, her head throbbing in blinding protest as a sharp pain in her abdomen brought tears to her eyes. She pulled her shirt upwards a little and recognized more white bandages wrapped around what was obviously at least one, if not more, broken ribs.

Her breath came in jagged, painful gasps as she rested herself against the pillows piled up behind her and looked around. She was obviously in a hospital room, which unnerved her a little, and it appeared someone had been staying with her as there was a bag full of clothes resting in the chair by her bed.

She saw a pull cord next to her bed for the nurses' station and reached out for it, hoping to find some answers as to what exactly happened. She wanted to know where Willow and Tara were and who was with her in her room, as well as what went down in the building.

A fierce pain in her ribs and a minute later a nurse was in her doorway, fawning all over her. Just as the nurse tried to take her vitals for the third time she croaked out, "Look, I'm sore not lethal! Could you just chill for a sec?"

The nurse responded, "Honey, you've been out for two days! We weren't sure if you would even wake up, let alone be sitting up and talking! You've been through quite an ordeal."

Alyena scratched at her bandages asking hoarsely, "What happened? I remember the fire, a ceiling beam, and then…nothing."

The nurse sat down on the edge of her bed explaining gently, "You were caught in a burning building. It's a wonder you survived all that destruction; not many people did. A wooden beam from the ceiling fell on you and trapped your arm underneath it. You got burned up pretty badly."

She paused, pointing to the bandage on Alyena's head before continuing, "That laceration was from another beam that fell on top of the first one. It hit you so hard you weren't moving, even when the beam caught on fire and almost took you with it. If it weren't for that sweet girl that's been staying in here with you, you might not have pulled through."

Alyena perked up at the mention of someone staying with her and asked hurriedly, her voice cracking a little from lack of use, "Who's been staying with me? I need to find my guardians; they were there at the fire too."

The nurse patted Alyena's knee comfortingly responding, "Oh, that little redhead you mean? She comes and visits you every day and spends the rest of the time with another patient. She signed off as your legal guardian so you could have your own room until you woke up."

Alyena seemed confused asking, "Who's stuff is in here if Willow only comes to see me for a little bit?"

The nurse furrowed her brow in thought responding, "Oh goodness, I can't remember her name! It was something pretty like Grace or Hope…"

Alyena locked eyes with the young woman who walked in the door of the room at that moment speaking quietly, "Faith?"

* * *

Willow sat in a chair lightly snoozing next to Tara's hospital bed when Tara woke up, slightly dazed.

She remembered very little of the past two days as she had been in and out of consciousness throughout the duration. What she did remember was unpleasant and made almost no sense at all.

One thing was for sure, she never wanted to hear anyone talk about pennies or pie ever again.

She looked down at her hand; an IV full of what she was pretty sure was morphine pulsing steadily into her veins. She was hooked up to a few monitors but it seemed that there wasn't anything life threatening going on at this point.

Her first thought was finding Willow, so she turned to her right to move off the bed before spotting the redhead. She smiled in relief, finding that it hurt because of a bandage secured across her left cheek.

Reaching out as best as she could, she managed to land her hand on Willow's knee, squeezing it gently to wake the girl. Being the light sleeper that she was, Willow bolted upright and shouted, "Purple peaches are a necessary evil!"

Tara giggled at her girlfriend's outburst causing Willow to notice her blonde lover was awake and jump excitedly from her chair. After doing a small jig and almost toppling over onto the bed, the redhead exclaimed, "You're awake! Oh goddess, Tare, I missed you!"

She sat down on the edge of the bed giving Tara a gentle kiss as she tried not to hurt her. Tara crooked a half smile so as not to hurt herself again and responded softly, "Hey, Wil! Are you feeling okay? You look exhausted."

Willow sighed replying, "I was up late last night checking on Aly and Dawn. Dawn is staying with Xander so I can stay here with you. Aly still hasn't woken up yet but the doctors feel good about her prospects for when she does."

Tara asked, confused, "What do you mean Aly hasn't woken up? What's wrong? What happened to her?"

Willow hesitated a moment before explaining, "Aly went into the fire after you, remember? She got caught under a ceiling beam and has been out for a couple days. I've been really worried about her but the doctor said optimism is the best way to go. She could wake up any minute now and there shouldn't be any brain damage as far as they can tell."

Tara put a bandaged hand to her mouth gasping, "Aly! I knew I saw someone get hit by a ceiling beam! I hope she's okay…I could never forgive myself if she never woke up just because she was trying to help me."

Willow took Tara's free hand shushing, "She'll be okay baby! She's strong like…like an amazon! Just like you. She'll pull through. I have faith in her just like I had faith you would come back to me, and look! Here you are!"

Tara smiled, bringing Willow's hand up to her lips and gently kissing her fingertips. She looked past her redhead seeing a basket full of chocolate roses and an arrangement of other sweets and goodies.

Tara whispered, "Well, hello beautiful!" as she eyed the candy, Willow sliding up next to her on the bed.

Willow replied with a soft kiss, "Hello yourself, sexy!" stroking some rogue blonde strands away from Tara's face.

Tara joked, "Whatever do you mean? I was talking to the chocolate!" reaching out to snatch a chocolate rose, tickling Willow's arm.

Willow responded lightheartedly, "I see how it is. You're picking chocolate over me now? Well I was talking to flowers behind you if you want the truth."

Tara smiled conspiratorially at Willow before turning her head to look up at the flowers behind her. After a sharp, brief pain in her neck from some kind of wound she couldn't see, she located the flowers and gave a small half smile.

She brought a hand up to her neck, rubbing the sore muscle tenderly asking, "Who brought me all this stuff? The flowers are beautiful and I'm sure the candy is delicious. I want to properly thank them."

Willow took over rubbing Tara's sore neck responding, "Xander and Anya both sent you that basket of candy and Alyena's friend Gavin sent you the flowers. He stops by every day to see her so he got both of you flowers."

Tara closed her eyes, enjoying the comfort of the neck rub for a moment before saying, "That was very sweet of him. I'm sure Aly enjoys his company even if she's not awake to know he's there."

Willow nodded silently, her mind wandering off to worry about Alyena once again. Tara sensed her shift in mood, opening her eyes to ask, "What's wrong darling? Are you worrying about Aly again?"

Willow sighed, replying, "I just wish there was something I could do. I feel responsible for what happened because she's my responsibility and I let her down. I hope she wakes up soon, but at the same time I'm afraid of how angry she'll be when she does."

Tara shushed, wrapping an arm around Willow's waist, "Sweetie, there was nothing you could've done to stop her from going in after me, just like there was nothing you could've done to prevent me from going in there in the first place. I think the last thing on her mind when she wakes up will be anger towards you."

As Willow's frown started changing into a soft smile, Tara added, "Besides, the first thing she'll think when she wakes up will probably be 'Pancakes!' anyway."

Willow chuckled good naturedly, "That girl can eat like a Slayer! I have never seen one person consume that many pancakes in one sitting in my entire life, except for the time Buffy went on a breakfast foods binge and ate almost everything in the house!"

Tara laughed, "There's nothing scarier than a hungry Slayer! Forget demons, vampires, and apocalypses; a hungry Slayer can ravage her way through anything!"

As the two women laughed off their fears, a nurse walked into the room. Smiling at the sight of her coherent patient she greeted, "It's good to see you up and talking, Miss Maclay! I was beginning to worry about you."

Tara responded hesitantly, "Forgive me, but I don't really remember who you are. Would you care to remind me?"

The nurse chuckled, "Not at all, dear! My name is Linda and I've been your day nurse since you got here. I've also been stopping in every now and then to see your younger sister and deliver updates. That's actually what I'm here for now."

Willow sat up, prodding, "Any news on Aly? Is she doing better?"

Linda replied brightly, "Yes, she's doing much better Miss Rosenberg! She woke up just over twenty minutes ago and is sitting up and talking as well. I thought you might want to go see her now."

Willow and Tara both grinned simultaneously, "She's awake?"

**--**

Here's Chapter Three for you fine folks! (Even though I'm pretty sure Mary is the only one reading this anyway. Oh well!)

Please enjoy all pancake references. And for those of you who need clarification, all italics are flashbacks (in the cases of Willow and Tara) or thoughts (in the case of Alyena) in this one. Hopefully you can figure out which is which but if it helps, each one is usually preceeded by the person in question speaking or someone mentioning the person in question.

Please R/R!!


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